Coming back on a crowded train, I watched a very homespun looking older gentleman, definitely a tourist, accidentally hit a Hispanic kid in the face with his elbow.

OOPS

If I had to guess, I’d say he hailed from Oklahoma or Iowa having a front porch gleam in his eye.

I watched the kid reach for his nose to see if it was bleeding, his face clenched like a fist.

Like any New Yorker who has seen it all, I waited for the explosion…hey watch itman…what the fuck.. but was greatly surprised by the reaction of the older man who took his palm, gently touching the young man’s cheek without saying a word.

I watched how that moment of potential aggression was nipped right in the bud.

Had a Saint Francis feel to it…Let us sow love…Where there is injury, PARDON.

a very sweet, tender moment indeed.

SB

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About Susannah Bianchi

I'm just a girl who likes to write slightly on slant. I've had a career in fashion, dabbled in film and to be honest, I don't like talking about myself. Now my posts are another matter so I will let them speak for themselves.
My eBooks, A New York Diary, Model Behavior: Friends For Life and Notes From A Working Cat can be found on Amazon.com. Thanks.

How do you remember me? You asked yesterday. I was a 16 year old kid you a senior. You were not condescending but treated me as a peer. That was a big deal for a young kid. Almost 45 years later the kid grew up but never forgot the kindness. Remember Neil Young’s song “heart of gold” ?Well susannah if the shoe fits…

Thanks for another delightful NYC parable with such evocative characterizations. Susannah, It really does seem miraculous that this exchange didn’t escalate into something ugly. The kid “with the face clenched like a fist”, like so many macho youngsters, could easily have reacted to being touched with a violently homophobic response. But that gentle soul with “a front porch gleam in his eye” evidently had a special presence, and the kid—amazing grace!

That is such a tender gesture to make; I can see why it would defuse the situation. What I’m used to (Korea) the old man would likely pretend he didn’t do anything, out of embarrassment or maybe just apologize.